Amman, Jordan

There must be a baby convention in Amman this weekend because there were like, 32 of them on my flight into Amman. Good news though, no 8 hour delay this week.

I didn't see a great deal of Jordan this evening. I took a cab for about 45 minutes from the airport to the hotel on the Dead Sea. I did see moderate poverty in the form of numerous abandoned or dilapidated buildings and a number of closed shops. Jordan doesn't possess the natural resources of other countries in the region and at least from what I have seen, it is evident outside of Amman. That said, Jordan has experienced ~10 years of substantial economic growth. The new King (Abdullah II*) is economically progressive and has made Jordan one of the freest and most competitive economies in the region. Jordan's economy has been growing at a rate of 7% over the last decade, no small feet.

The beach was closed by the time I arrived at the hotel. I had dinner on the patio overlooking the Sea.

I am learning quickly not to order a martini in the Middle East. They do a lot of things well here, martinis aren't one of them.

On that note, I tried a Jordanian red wine...and I think it might have been carbonated.

My lack of planning bit me tonight. Hertz (which has an office on the resort complex) can't get a car here by the morning. I probably should have called in advance. Anyway, I've hired a driver instead, which is more expensive...by a lot. BUT! I am going to Petra in the morning no matter what. Pick up is at 745. Time for bed.

*While King Abdullah has done well with the Jordanian economy, he's doing ok in his personal life as well...google Queen Rania...

Amman, the Dead Sea and Petra

The (Saudi) weekend arrives tomorrow and I’m spending it in Jordan. I am flying into Amman tomorrow night around 7, renting a car (which I am not sure I am supposed to be able to do, but I’ll find out), and driving to a hotel on the Dead Sea. Thursday morning I am going to wake up early and make the ~2 ½ hour drive down to Petra for the day. Petra is a historic city from around 6 BC. The city remained unknown to the Western world until 1812. It’s on a number of “must see in your life” lists that I have seen. It was also one of the settings for Indian Jones and the Last Crusade. I plan to spent 5 or 6 hours walking around Petra before heading back to the Dead Sea and the hotel.

Friday I’ll spend a little time on the beach, perhaps drive down to the baptismal site, maybe have lunch in Amman and head back to Riyadh. I hope everything runs on time this weekend…

Also, my time in the Middle East is starting to come into better focus. It looks like I’ll be here until either June 16^th or 23^rd. Here is how I think it will play out:

5/12: Jordan

5/19: Likely staying in Riyadh for work

5/25: NYC for a few days for work

6/2: Not sure – possibly Tel Aviv (though it is very tricky due to the Saudi / Israeli relationship…you basically have to convince the Israelis not to stamp your passport), or Syria

6/9: Beirut (hopefully with the team)

6/16 or 23: Possibly London or Istanbul on the way back to the States

Oman Facts

Location: Southwest Asia (bordered by the UAE, Saudi, Yemen and the Gulf of Oman
Government: Islamic Absolute Monarchy
Population: 2.8M (including about 700K expats)
Capital: Muscat
GDP per capita: ~25K
Established: 751 (Constitutionally in 1996)
Economy: Predominately oil & gas and minerals…they’re working on an industrial sector

Oh-Man Oman

I just returned to Saudi after about 36 hours in Oman. I can’t say I did much that was culturally enlightening this weekend but that was kind of what I expected. I planned the trip last minute. Thursday I lounged around the resort, caught up on a stack of Economist articles that has been building for months, had a nice seaside dinner and crashed around 11 (I hadn’t slept since Tuesday night). This morning I had a great run on the beach capped off by a dive into the Indian Ocean. I then had brunch and got a driver to show me around Muscat for a couple hours before heading to the airport.

A co-worker of mine called Oman, “chill” before I left and that’s the best way I can describe it. It was just really laid back and relaxing. The resort was quiet and very private. I didn’t see many people my age or many American (though most people were foreigners…Germans, Indians, Nordics from what I could tell). The Omani people I met were incredibly friendly and polite. The atmosphere was very island-like. It reminded me of the Caribbean. Geographically, it reminded me more of Baha - arid hills all around with devastating cliffs and white rock.

Muscat itself was quiet and incredibly clean (a stark contrast to Riyadh). My driver didn't speak much English but I think we were able to hit all the big spots. Perhaps the most impressive were the Al Jalali and Al Mirani forts (see next entry) which were built during the Portuguese regime (which started about 500 years ago and ended in the 1700s). Tourists aren’t really allowed in them, but they made for nice photo ops.

One of the more interesting parts of the trip was the flight back to Riyadh. It was my first flight over Saudi in daylight and I was amazed at the mass of open desert. Also, I offered to fill out an Indian migrant workers entry form b/c he couldn't write or read English or Arabic. It started a chain reaction and I spent the next 20 minutes doing the same for all his friends. Many of them only had one name in their passport and all were quite nice. I was surprised to find most of them were younger than I am.

O(so)mani Photos

Not a bad beach...


I swam through that (yeah right)

Muscat at 140Km/hr

The Zawawi Mosque in Al Khuwair, Muscat


Al Jalai Fort


I left the windows open so I'd wake up and catch the sunrise the second day...glad I did...and then I promptly went back to bed for 3 hours.


Action shot.

I'll post more pics to facebook (if I can figure out how)

Life Was Good Today

8 hour delay. Not a wink of sleep. A beer while watching the sunrise over the Gulf of Oman, totally worth it...

Waiting

Those who know me well know that patience is a quality I am short on. Therefore, you probably would have found humor in me huffing and puffing in the Riyadh airport for the last 5 hours over my delayed flight and the airline’s made up reasons for it (according to Abdullah from Oman Air the plane has been circling the airport for about 4.5 hours). I’m over my madness and confusion and now I’m just writing it off as an “experience.” I am quickly coming to realize that there isn’t a rush for much of anything over here. Perhaps for someone with my disposition a few months in a place like this won’t be such a bad thing.

They do their best not to cancel flights here because of the inefficient and irrational customs and immigration practices in Saudi (and probably b/c they don’t want to refund you). If the Saudis stamp you out, they expect you to come back with a stamp from wherever you were headed and will give you a hard time if you don’t. The immigration and customs process is unpredictable and time consuming when everyone plays by the rules. Throwing 200 people who didn't go anywhere into the mix might bring the entire “system” to its knees. So, trying to walk out of the airport right now would probably take a couple hours. I’m going to wait this flight out.

I’ll be gaining an hour when I get to Oman and then have an hour drive to the resort so at this pace, there is a good chance I’ll see the sunrise over the Gulf of Oman just about the time I arrive tomorrow. I’ll be exhausted, but I could think of worse ways to spend a Saturday morning…

The airport is fine. The lack of a bar is a bit disappointing but given the length of this delay, perhaps a good thing. Everyone is friendly, though I do stick out a bit. As far as I can tell there isn’t another American on the fight. Seeing all these different people is a lot of fun. It’s interesting what you pick up from body language (and how conscious you are of your own) when you can’t speak to people. In some ways, such exchanges are more genuine than a conversation. I can’t help but wonder about their families, their experiences, their likes and dislikes, their aspirations, their regrets. Where do they come from? Who do they miss? What are their stories? We all have a story and I’m a believer they are all fascinating in their own way.